Don't mess with the Princess
by sKetchdiva
Summary: Three well known criminals sneak into the largest castle in the world - a castle belonging to Princess Courtney Dragomir - in hopes of stealing all her gold. Will they get caught? Well duh. Rated for language.


**Hey! I DO NOT own TDI or the TDI characters! I also borrowed the names Dragomir and Ozera from the Vampire Academy books, so I don't own those, either!**

**This story is about three criminals (Duncan, Trent and Geoff), who are poor (SO SAD), and have to steal gold, riches, whatever. They sneak in through a window and get caught. Whooptie-doo. What'd ya think would happen? **

**I dunno, I'm in a bad mood, so I don't feel like typing a long, happy thing here.**

**Anyways, PEACE**

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~Chapter 1~

"Okay guys," Duncan whispered to his buddies, Geoff and Trent. "Let's climb in through that window." He pointed up to a large arched window on the third floor.

Trent pulled his wicker hat down so that only a bit of his jet black hair was sticking out of the bottom, also covering his eyes. "How do you expect us to get up there?"

"Yeah," said Geoff. "We can't even boost each other up."

Duncan rolled his eyes and slapped his dumb blonde-haired friend on the arm. "Well duh, you idiot. We'll climb the lattice."

"Oh." Geoff glanced up at the window and gulped. "I'm not a huge fan of heights, you guys. I wanna puke just thinking about going up there."

"How else are we gonna get some gold?" Trent asked harshly. "This castle is _the best _place to try and score."

"Damn right," Duncan agreed. "Oh shit, duck!" He dropped down into the giant bushy shrub they were standing in, his friends following.

Two princes on white stallions galloped by, not noticing the criminals hiding in the bush.

Trent sighed in relief and stood back up, crouching a little to keep from being seen by anyone else who might be around. "Let's get moving." He glanced around, grabbing onto the lattice and pushing himself up.

Geoff examined the six-story stone castle, uneasy. It was 1892, and he and his friends were starving. They were poor, and were basically homeless. They ran from place to place, stealing and selling, killing and impersonating. Of course, they only killed when they had no other choice, and mostly just animals. Buffalo, cows, chickens, whatever. As long as they weren't hungry in the end, they didn't care. They had killed one person: a man named Michaelangelo, who had imprisoned them and stolen all the treasures _they _had stolen from most of the royals throughout the country.

Tonight, Duncan, Trent and Geoff were sneaking into Princess Dragomir's Castle to steal some riches to hopefully pay for their food for a whole month. Maybe even a cottage to live in. They were wanted criminals, never caught by the authorities. Bad boys on the run.

Duncan followed Trent, keeping close. "Move a little faster, man. We're gonna be spotted."

"I'm going as fast as I can," grumbled Trent, picking up the pace.

Geoff gulped again, gripping the lattice in both hands. The three of them slowly climbed, halting when people would pass, just to start back up again when they were out of sight. "Are we there yet?" he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut to keep from looking down.

"Yeah," Trent called softly, grasping the edge of the deck under the window. There was also a glass door by it, but there were heavy red curtains covering the inside. He looked up over the edge, not seeing any shadows in the drapes. "Seems like the coast is clear."

"Sweet. Go." Duncan put his right hand up, grabbing Trent's foot and shoving him over the metal fencing that sat along the edge of the stone patio in the air. He waited impatiently as Trent snooped around the deck, peeking in through the window. The castle sloped out, holding the deck in place. The castle was pretty frikkin' sweet, Duncan thought. _All we have to do is sneak in, grab a couple bagfuls of goods, and get the hell outta there before the guards show up. _He took a deep breath, running his hand through his mohawk and pushing himself over the railing. He landed on his butt, Geoff following and landing on Duncan's stomach.

"Ow! Jesus, get off!" He pushed Geoff onto the floor of the deck, standing slowly and brushing himself off.

"Shut up!" Trent hissed by the window. It was open, and similar curtains to the ones on the door were flowing in the October breeze, tickling his face. He pulled back the drape a couple inches, peering in. "No one's in this room. Quick, before anybody shows up."

The three of them snuck over to the door, yanking on the antique gold knob.

"Locked," Duncan mumbled. "Crap."

"We could break it down," suggested Geoff.

"We can't, barf brain. It's probably armed somehow, and it would attract too much attention," Trent sneered.

Duncan nodded once. "Right. Let's just climb in through the window." He untied the burlap sack that was secured around his waist, thrusting it to Trent before stepping in. He had trouble getting over the window sill, his unraveling homemade clothes managing to get hooked onto any uneven patch on the surface.

He rolled in, his head snapping up to glance around the room. Trent was right. Nobody. He sprinted over to the door on the other side of the room and placed a board across it as Geoff and Trent snuck in. "Whoa," he whispered. The room was all decorated and fancy. The Dragomirs really went all out with their money spending.

Geoff whistled at the sight, Trent smacking him on the chest to keep him quiet. "If you'd like me to remind you," he nastily hissed, "we are not the only people in this castle."

Duncan walked over to a large table, big enough to seat at least twenty people. He gingerly picked up a crystal glass at the head, twisting it around to make it glitter in the light shining down from the chandelier overhead. Then he clenched his fist, crushing it.

"Dude," Geoff gasped.

"Yeah, man, you're gonna kill your hand." Trent jogged over and pushed Duncan out of the way, grabbing more of the crystal glasses. "But these'll rack in a lot'a green."

"Don't bother takin' those," said Duncan, shaking his hand over the floor to dislodge the shards of glass pricking his skin. "They're too thin." He wiped the blood on his pants.

Trent shrugged. "Eh, you're right." He continued to search the rest of the room, Geoff still standing uneasily by the door.

"Man, come on. Help us grab some goods." Duncan tossed another sack at Geoff. "Hurry up. We'll move to the next room in a few."

"But I don't wanna...steal from the _Princess._" Geoff said, dropping the bag on the granite floor."That's like the worst crime, like..._ever!_"

Trent rolled his eyes, taking an armload of jewels, gold and expensive-looking jewelry to a sack Duncan was holding open for him. He dropped them in and scoffed at Geoff. "Der. That's why we're doing it. Princess Dragomir is the richest princess is the country. Surprised she doesn't have more dudes guarding the place."

"Wonder if she's hot," Duncan murmured to himself, earning a hit from Trent.

"Bro, we don't have time to daydream. Move faster."

"I'm not doing it," said Geoff, crossing his arms over his ripped white shirt. "Not this time."

"C'mon, man." Duncan went over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You always score with us. Beside, we steal from princesses all the time."

Geoff shrugged his hand off. _"Not this time," _he repeated through his teeth.

Trent grumbled something that sounded frustrated, and rolled his eyes hugely. "What. Ever. I don't care either way. You just slow us down." Geoff was offended by that comment, but Trent went on without even a glance in his direction. He made his way back over to the window, sticking his head through the curtains. "Good luck sneaking back out. Looks like the po-po supposed to be guarding this side of the premises happened to be on break when we got in. Lucky us."

Duncan looked out with him, grimacing. "What are there, like thirty out there?"

Trent nodded, ducking back inside and away from view of the knights on black mustangs lined around the castle. "Yep. Come on. Grab your bags and lets move out."

Geoff threw his hands up. "Well where am I supposed to go?"

Trent smirked, scoffing again. "I don't care."

Duncan shrugged, not really meeting Geoff's eyes. "Sorry, man." He cracked the heavy door open, quickly patrolling his eyes around the hallway it opened into. Like everything else in the room they were just in, the long stretch of hall was huge, painted a deep lavender. Golden lanterns lines the walls close to the ceiling, illuminating bit and pieces of the darkness. It was well lit, though. Lighted enough for the boys to be able to see where they were walking, and to see if anyone was headed their way.

"You can't just leave me here!" Geoff was saying as Duncan stepped out. Trent followed. "What if someone finds me?"

"Then it's your own problem." Trent smirked evilly at him, shutting the door and jogging to catch up with Duncan, his sack slung over his shoulder.

"Dude, would you be quiet?!" Duncan stopped abruptly and pointed sharply to Trent's bag. "You're clankin' and...you're just making too much noise!"

"Me? You're the one yelling," Trent whispered.

Duncan frowned. He _had _been yelling. He just didn't realize it. "Touché." Trent smiled as Duncan continued down the hall, peering around each corner and in every room with caution.

When they got to the end of the hall, about ten minutes later (the castle was _totally_ huge – the largest castle in the _world, _not just the country), they groaned out in anger and frustration when it was just a dead end.

"Damn it," muttered Trent, cupping his chin in his palm. "It's like a freaking maze in here."

"What's in here?" Duncan wondered aloud, staring questioningly at the door in front of him. He gripped the knob, slowly, _slowly, _turning the handle and opening it.

Trent gasped and looked all around the big room with wide eyes. "Oh..."

Duncan did the same. He gaped at the piles and piles of gold; gold stools, gold utensils, gold dishes, gold bottles, gold _thread_, and just big ol' hunks of solid GOLD! "...my..."

"...god," they said together, running in and slamming the door. They grabbed fistfuls of gold coins, not even bothering with the silver. They spit on silver. Silver was for amateurs.

"Don't forget that!" Trent gestured to the small chest of the solid chunks of gold. "We'll be living like kings!" He threw some coins in the air, them raining down on him.

"We should already be living like kings," Duncan mumbled. "Remember? When we robbed the Ozeras? We had enough money to buy anything we wanted. Then Michaelangelo came in..."

"Ugh." Trent fell back onto the floor. "Don't even start talking about that asshole."

"At least we killed him." Duncan nodded to his friend,

dropping the heavy chest into his bag, tying it tight. "Well, let's go before–"

The door to the hall burst open, two really buff knights stepping in and throwing Geoff on the ground in front of them. "Hands where we can see them! And drop the sacks."

Trent and Duncan hesitated, quickly going over their chances of getting out of there alive and with the haul. They decided they weren't good, releasing the burlaps and putting their hands above their heads.

"Man, what the f*** did you do?" Duncan hissed to Geoff, not taking his eyes off the knights.

"Hey! What's going on in here?" a voice echoed in the hall.

Trent and Duncan gulped, wondering if they only had minutes more to live.

"Milady," one of the knights said, turning so he could face the person in the hall. He bowed, swiping two fingers across his forehead in a way to show respect.

_The way Dragomirs demand to be treated... _Duncan thought grudgingly, scowling at the other knight who was staring at him.

"These men have entered the castle with the wish to steal your treasures," the one knight went on.

"What have they taken?" the princess asked.

_Hmm... _Duncan smirked. _She _sounds_ hot._

"By the looks of it, they only entered two rooms. One of which happened to be the royal jewel room."

She gasped. "No! Empty their bags!" Though the boys couldn't see her, they could hear her shrill shriek even if they were a hundred miles apart.

The second knight stalked his way past Geoff, picking up Trent and Duncan's bags, flipping them over to dump them onto the hard ground.

Princess Dragomir pushed her way in and gasped again, clasping her hands over her mouth. Her head whipped up to Duncan, her onyx eyes glowing with fury. "What have you _done?_"

Duncan's whole face lit up. The princess wasn't simply _hot..._she was beautiful. She had silky brown hair with a bit of wave, long, slender legs hidden by her royal purple gown, and the most gorgeous color skin. It was a coffee-ish color...mocha maybe.

She crossed her arms and scowled at the three boys furiously. She stopped on Duncan, her anger softening when she took in his features. She noticed that his eyes were a piercing teal, reminding her of the ocean, for some reason. "Oh," she said, her arms falling to the sides. She took a step closer to the boys, a knight stopping her with one arm.

"Princess," he said through his helmet, "these men are extremely dangerous. Please, stay back."

She waved him off, her eyes still fixed on Duncan. "No. They won't hurt me."

"How can you be so sure?" Trent spat, Duncan kicking him hard in the shin.

He didn't take his eyes off the Princess. He got down on one knee and bowed, doing the whole finger things across his head. "Princess, my apologies. Please forgive my pals and I," he said respectfully.

She gazed down at him, lost in his eyes. His beautiful, beautiful teal eyes. But she shook her head, clearing the daze he was surrounding her in. "Uh, erm...very well. Neil?"

"Yes, milady?" the second knight answered.

"Take these gentlemen down to the dining hall. They look ravenous."

Duncan started laughing really nervously as he stood. Trent too. He thought they were going to be executed. So did Geoff. But Duncan didn't. He knew when he saw the princess that she wasn't heartless. Sure, she might've executed a group of other men who was trying to steal her stuff, but he felt a spark between him and her when they looked into each other's eyes. Yeah, that's sounds corny. But it was true. And the boys really were starving.

Princess Dragomir smiled sweetly at Duncan but scowled at the other boys as her knights, Neil and Marcus, led the three criminals to the dining hall for a feast they'd never forget.

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**Oooh, think Princess Dragomir is all sweet an innocent?? THINK AGAIN! Read the next chapter to find out how evil she truely is... I'll be updating soon! PEACE!**


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